Belinda2 said:
CamperVan_Man,
I respectfully don't agree. Stealth is my number one priority. You have been allowed to park at the same spot where you live for years. The neighbors approve of you and the cops have grandfathered you in with the no camping sign that is posted for that street now. The rest of us are moving our vehicles several times a day to remain stealth. If I get caught and get ANYTHING on a criminal record, my job and career is OVER. I can't take even one run in with the police. That's why I am on this site spending hours contemplating the correct vehicle, supplies, and set-up.
Greetings Belinda!
What area are you in?
Actually the neighborhood you were speaking of, wasn't no camping, but no parking 10pm-6am. It is on the park side of a residential street, and I guess they were having late night party problems at the park. Since I was never a part of the problem, they just don't care about me being parked there. Other neighborhood cars are also parked overnight there without a problem, so my guess is that they only enforce it if there's a problem.
When I AM parked under a "No Camping" sign, mainly on the Oregon Coast, that is where I do go into stealth mode, making my van look empty, even though I'm inside... Never got caught yet...
I actually travel quite a lot, but my normal stomping grounds are North of Sacramento/San Francisco and West of Montana, but with my work I might be anywhere in the country for any given length of time. Looks like I might be headed for San Bernardino, CA next, if I can't fix their problems remotely.
Generally, I see 2 kinds of people talking about stealth, people who have never been out here doing it yet, and people who have never tried any other way. And the latter frequently have many horror stories to tell. In 50+ years, I don't have one single horror story with window vans, about anything that is relevant to this discussion. In a panel/cargo van I got hassled all the time, in my window vans, I get checked on occasionally, but never once been surrounded by cops with their guns out, like happened with the cargo van.
When you pick up a newspaper, or watch TV, and they are talking about homeless people living in vans, the pictures are ALWAYS of white cargo vans. Mobile meth labs, white cargo vans, burglars, more unmarked white cargo vans. Watch by the side of the road, especially at night, you will see a lot of unmarked cargo vans pulled over by the cops. You hardly ever see a window van or a station wagon pulled over, mainly hot rods, SUV's and cargo van's. IF you see a window van in the news with people living in it, the whole tone of the story is different than that of people living in cargo vans. It's more of a human interest story instead of a crime report type of reporting. Since sometime in about the early 1980's the media has given a bad rap to cargo vans. In the 70's I had an old telco cargo van, nobody cared. In 1985 I had a 2 year old, BEAUTIFUL, white Chevy cargo van, that instantly turned into a nightmare.
Check your local laws, is it even a problem camping on the street, inquire at the police station. If it is illegal, just tell them you have a homeless friend who is living in their vehicle, and ask them where a safe place to park for them is. You may find the local police to be very helpful, and they never have to know that you're talking about you. Check your local churches, if on street is illegal, you might get a permanent or at least semi-permanent place to park. I'm really against people getting themselves into a position where they have to be constantly looking over their shoulder.
I would only worry about stealth if there were absolutely no other options available, and there are usually many better options. I think it's okay for the cops to know you in most situations, once they know you're not a trouble maker, or a criminal, you're pretty much home free. I've actually had cops who have brought me coffee and donuts in the morning on their break, to just sit and chat for a bit. Some cops ARE power hungry, but there's some really good ones too. Cops don't have to be the enemy.
Last time I was down in Sacramento, I was parked beside a city park, and about once an hour a police car would drive by. I'm a night owl, and my van is usually lit up at night, while I'm working on my computer. So I'd wave, and the cop would wave back. Never stopped... I pulled in on a Wednesday. Saturday rolled around, and there was a soccer game in the park, which I watched, sitting in my recliner, with my side doors open. After the game, this nice gentleman came over to my van, and I smiled and asked how he was doing, in my typical fashion. We introduced each other and shook hands, and chatted for a while. Come to find out, he was the police officer, I had been waving at. I asked if it was normal for him to drive by the park about once an hour, and he said "No, not really, but it's so refreshing to see a smiling face and a wave, instead of people running and hiding from you, that I enjoy checking on you." I told him that was great, and that he had made my day... I meant it too.
I have found that even if there are anti-camping laws on the books, that they are frequently only selectively enforced. Meaning that if nobody complains, they won't enforce it. A lot of those laws were made to solve a particular problem that may have happened years ago, and they only enforce them if they need to. Those "Occupy" movements a year or two ago, they brought out old laws and enforced them. Across town, nobody bothered me...
The point is check out all of your options, BEFORE, you decide what you need to do. Don't take my word for it, or anybody elses. You are in the best place to check for and figure out your options for your area. If you need help, I'd be honored to help you explore a large number of off street options if that's what you need. I deal with van dwellers and their problems all over the country, and have become a reasonably good resource for unconventional solutions. None of which include the fear of anybody finding out. We can always do much better than that.
Cheers!
The CamperVan_Man
Duck said:
MPG is a confusing way of calculating it I think for people who aren't used to it, because it varies so much. Intuitively many people think it is the same regardless of what you are doing, not realizing it is dependent on the consumption you are starting from.
If your comparing a 10mpg vehicle to a 20mpg vehicle
you are using 50 gallons less to go 1000 miles (100 gallons vs 50 gallons consumed) for a savings of 200$
However from 20mpg to 30 mpg you are using 16.7 gallons less.(50 gallons vs 33.33 gallons) for a savings of only 67$.
Greetings!
Oh, I totally agree, it actually has to do with percentages, but for most, that just confuses them even more, so I tried to keep my example as simple as possible...
For me, even if money was a BIG issue, I would be perfectly willing to work just a little bit harder to support the comfort factor. Comfort is one of those things that I almost consider priceless, and certainly worth any amount of extra fuel required.
Cheers!
The CamperVan_Man
Greetings Starlight!
If you need help with non stealth parking plans, just let me know, there's quite a few. Do check with the police in your area, to check on the laws, and whether they're enforced, and ask them for suggestions/alternatives.
Stealth is like a last ditch resort for me...
Cheers!
The CamperVan_Man
